Ahab are the kings of funeral doom. They craft slow, menacing riffs with the aggression equal to that of any death metal band. Ahab also have the talent to consistently have an output of nearly perfect records. This holds true for their third album, The Giant.
Right from the start I knew there would be something different with this record. The cover art for the previous two Ahab albums featured classical paintings with a dark and morbid setting to them. This time around the album art features an original and almost psychedelic nightmare scene of a gigantic creature in the midst of swirling ocean waves and seas beasts. Artwork on the inside continues with the same thing and looks great.
The music this time around has changed up a bit. Most of the tracks all start off with a very mellow opening of lightly distorted or clean guitars that eventually build into the massive towering Ahab style riffs that any doom fan craves. Plenty of guitar solos and leads are featured on here, way more than on the previous two records. The same can be said for clean vocals. While there’s still plenty of gutteral vocals there are also more clean vocals here than in the past. There is a bit more separation to the individual instruments in the production this time around and the bass guitar is pretty loud in the mix, much louder than it has been on the previous two releases.
Much more of a focus on atmosphere rather than aggression is emphasized with the songs on The Giant. I would even say the album sounds much more progressive than the previous 2 records. It’s still heavy as an anvil slamming down on the ocean floor, but the focus is more of a sense of melancholy than menace here. There’s still plenty of menace and raw brutal riffs though! The band has just taken on a bit more to their sound.
The version of The Giant I have is the digipack which contains a bonus track called “Time’s Like Molten Lead”. Those out there who get the vinyl version of the album will be treated to not only the bonus track from the digipack but also a second bonus track titled “Evening Start”. If you liked the first two Ahab albums, or are a fan of doom, this is for you. Hail Ahab, kings of doom!
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